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Well listen. I have been chastised already for my childish behavior on this thread. I sort of wish I'd left it alone. I mean--do I have to say this?--I was just having a little fun. I was stuck at home with a strained lower back. But since you asked about Van Halen and Rush, I'll tell you what I thought/think of them.

Rush:

My older brother was a big Rush fan. Around the same time I took up guitar, he took up bass. I had a better ear than he did, so I used to learn the bass parts and teach them to him so we could play Rush songs in our garage band. I was more of a blues/roots rock kind of guy at the time. Skynyrd, Allmans, Clapton, Doobies, Bad Co. That sort of thing.

But Rush was real benchmark stuff as a musician, so it was like bragging rights if you could play all of 2112 (we could) or Freewill or Limelight. I saw Rush live on the Signals tour, and I still think "Exit..Stage Left" is a real fine album. I like Hemispheres a lot, and Permanent Waves. And Moving Pictures. It's downhill after that. I like the songwriting on Farewell to Kings, but the live versions are better.

Van Halen:

When I first heard Eruption, I had no explanation for it. I had to hang out at Sam Ash music store til I found someone doing the hammer on pull off. People had done hammer ons, and pull offs, but no one had put it together like Eddie did. Their first few albums were hard, raw, bluesy rock and roll. The technique of the guitar cannot be denied. The bass parts are rudimentary, but the solo sections usually feature some interesting meters. David Lee Roth was, of course, a clown. But he knew he was a clown, and he was good at it. I used to lift weights in my room with "Women and Children First" cranked. I was pretty much through with them by the time Diver Down came out, but I will say 1984 had a couple of good cuts. "House of Pain" was a neat little song. But I never encorporated any of their style into my own style. I went in a totally different direction. The Hee Haw influence on me was too strong.

But hey, I thought ZZ Top Eliminator was a cool album at the time, and I still like some Bad Company songs. I am not "above" commercial rock music, which is teen-oriented. I was a teen once. I still remember. Heck, Skynyrd fits that mold too.

As for the "traumas" Mr. Bungle mentioned, as a musician, I found the popularity of RATT, and Motley Crue, and probably most of all Quiet Riot not only traumatic, but deeply disappointing. That was definitely bad news for a kid growing up in the 80s who treated his copy of Eat a Peach like it was the Rosetta stone. I just couldn't understand it. But I know. That's just my opinion. Other folks might think "Stella Blue" by the Grateful Dead is boring as watching paint dry, but I love it. To each his own, I know. But RATT? It's still hard for me to take, even all these years later.